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Patented Nov. 8, 1898.

No. 6l3,764.

H. c. HANSEN.

FIRE ESCAPE.

(Application filed Mar. 30, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Wiigcsscs THDNUHRIS Pqzns co. Pumaunm, WASHINGTON a. 1.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

llANS O. HANSEN, OF ITI-IAOA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO B. EfGAGER, OF SAME PLACE.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION formihg art of Letters Patent No. 613,764, dated November 8, 1898.

Application filed March 30,1898. Serial No. 675,728. (No model.)

T0 at whom, it may conceive.-

Be it known that I, HANS O. HANSEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Fire- Escape, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in fire-escapes.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of fire-escapes and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and effi-- 'cient one adapted to be readily engaged with a window-sill or the like of a building and capable of enabling an inmate to descend from an elevated point and regulate his descent to the ground.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fire-escape which may be returned readily to the point of attachment to enable others to escape and which, after it has been used, may be disconnected readily from the building without material loss.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective 'view of a fire-escape constructed in accordance with this invention and shown applied to a building. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken longitudinally of the brake-levers. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of one of the levers. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the other lever.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a rope or other suitable flexible connection passing around the supporting-pulley 2, which is connected by a short attachment-mops 3 with a hook 4:, adapted to engage awindow-sill or the like and designed to be angularly bent, as shown, or constructed of any other suitable shape. One end of the hoisting-rope is provided with a loop 5, in which a person is designed to sit, and a strap 6 is connected with the rope by a ring 7 and is designed to be passed around a person below the arms, thereby securely attaching the rope to the person. The ring, which is secured to the strap, is held at any desired point on the rope by simply knotting the latter. The descent of a person is regulated by a pair of brake-levers 8 and 9, hinged together at one end and attached to one run of the rope adjacent to their hinged ends, the rope passing through perforations 10 and 11 and being provided above and below the same with knots 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings. The lever 9 is provided at its hinged end with a bifurcation and has the sides 13 thereof hook-shaped to form bearings for a pintle 14 of the lever 8, the latter being reduced at its hinged end to fit in the bifurcation. The pintle, which extends laterally from each side of the reduced end of the lever, is preferably formed integral therewith, and the levers are detachably hinged together by the aforesaid construction, but the hinged joint can be varied, if

desired.

The swinging movement of the brake-levers is limited by a bolt 15, and the said levers are provided with slots or openings 16 and 17, arranged out of alinement and receiving the free end or portion of the rope,whereby the rope, which passes between the levers for a short distance,is adapted to be clamped by thesame to regulate the descent of a person. The levers, which are shaped to form handles or grips 18 and 19, may be provided in the slots 16 and 17 with rollers, and by grasping the handle portions of the levers the friction on the rope may be readily regulated.

The bolt 15 passes through perforations 20 and 21 of the brake levers and is provided with a nut 22, and by adjusting the nut on the bolt the movement of the levers on the pintle may be regulated.

After a person has lowered himself to the ground the loop end of the rope may be readily returned to the pulley by drawing in on the other end of the rope, and after the device has been used to the desired extent it is readily detached from the building by allowing the free end of the rope to slide through the slots or openings of the brake-lever and through the pulley, the latter and its connection with the hook being the only part lost, which part may be readily replaced at a trifling cost.

The invention has the following advantages: The device is simple and com paratively inexpensive in construction and is adapted to be readily attached to a windowsill or other portion of a building and iscapable of enabling persons to descend rapidly and at the same time to control their descent. After the device has been used it may be read ily removed from a building, the supportingpulley being the only part lost.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What I claim is- 1. A device of the class described, comprising a vertical rope doubled to form two runs, a pair of horizontal brake-levers permanently connected with one run of the rope and provided between their ends with openings arranged out of alinement and receiving the other run of the rope, whereby the levers are adapted to clamp the same firmly for regnlating the descent of a person, substantially as described. 2. A device of the class described com prising a pair of brake-levers hinged together at one end, and having openings or slots arranged out of alinement, means for limiting the hinge movement, and a rope doubled between its ends, having one run permanently attached to the levers, the other run of the rope passing through the slots or openings,

whereby it is adapted to be firmly gripped by the levers, substantially as described.

3. A device of the class described compris ing a pair of levers provided with openings or slots arranged out of alinement, one of the levers being bifurcated and having the bifur cated portion hook-shaped,and the other lever being reduced and provided with a pintle ar-' ranged in the bearings formed by the hookshaped portions of the bifurcated lever, and a rope having one run connected with the levers and its other run passing through the slots or openings of the same, substantially as described.

4:. A device of the class described, comprising a pulley, means for connecting it to a building, a pair of brake-levers hinged together, provided with registering perfora= tions and having slots or openings arranged out of alinement, a rope passing over the pulley and having one run passing through the slots or openings, the other run of therope being passed through the said perforations and provided, above and below the le vers with suitable stops, a fastening device for limiting the swing of the lovers, and means for attaching the rope to a person, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HANS o. HANSEN.

Vitnesses:

ROGER H. WILLIAMS, 0. IV. GAY. 

